This blog explores a family history search. It addresses genealogy, Jewish heritage travel and artwork. It has taken the author to Belarus, the Ukraine and Poland where she visited her ancestral towns as well as Lithuania where she studied Yiddish at the Vilnius Yiddish Institute. As the author is both an artist and a genealogist, the blog also addresses her artwork related to her family and cultural history.

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Thursday, April 1, 2010

More Paintings: I Was Here and What Is Left

Two more paintings to add to my Lithuania collection. The first is recycled from another painting I shared on this blog called "Tombstone Braille". I decided I wasn't quite satisfied with it and attempted to rework it. Along the way I destroyed it and then turned it into a new painting. Despite my frequently expressed wish for an artwork undo button, I often find that my favorite works comes from being willing to destroy and re-create.

The painting is called "I Was Here" and is based on the Ninth Fort located outside of Kaunas, Lithuania. The Ninth Fort was a place of mass murder used by the Nazis to kill 50,000 Jews. In addition to Lithuanian Jews, this site was used for the murder of Jews from France, Germany and Austria. The building was used as a temporary holding point prior to executions in adjacent killing fields. If the Nazis didn't complete all their murders during the work day, they held the Jews overnight until the next day. It was in the holding cells that I saw the imagery which inspired this painting. Carved into the bluish rose walls were names and dates. A last attempt to say, "I was here", to assert one's existence in the face of death. When I painted over the face in the earlier painting, it still showed through the layers of paint. I liked the effect and decided this subject required a face to remind the viewer that a person stood facing this wall as they carved their last words.

The second painting that I've completed is based on a vestige of the great synagogue of Vilnius. In 1938 the synagogue was celebrating its 500 year anniversary. The synagogue survived the war, but was badly damaged and torn down by the Soviets. In the Tolerance Museum I found the doors to the Torah Ark. I was captivated by their handcrafted quality and surprised by how modern they appeared. I loved the variation in colors on the metal and wanted to try to capture it with paint. Because I made use of metallic paint, the colors change with the light. The name of the painting is "What Is Left".

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Welcome

Welcome to this blog. In these pages I address the issues that are of deep interest to me. I take you on my travels to Eastern Europe, my observations about the former and present Jewish communities in those countries and the response of those countries to their history. I capture this in both words and artwork and frequently share my artwork in these pages. In addition I address my genealogy research based on family who originated in many of the places I explore. This has been a process of discovery for me and I invite you to join me on this journey.

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About Me

Susan Weinberg researches, paints and writes about family, cultural and community history. Her family history interests and travel frequently inform her artwork.
Susan writes of her travel to ancestral towns throughout Eastern Europe and her artwork based on those communities.
Susan has exhibited her artwork nationally and internationally. Her most recent body of work is the Jewish Identity and Legacy project, a project which includes oral history and art creation. Based in Minneapolis-St Paul, Susan creates artwork and does genealogy consulting. She speaks frequently on her artwork and genealogy topics. She maintains two blogs, Layers of the Onion with a family history and art focus and Creative Connections on the Minneapolis Jewish Artists' Lab.